This link http://smallworldathome.blogspot.com/2008/09/in-spirit-of-national-punctuation-day.html has great grammar advice and recommendations and links to a lot of other great resources. For writing, I am a big fan of Brave Writer. I know that many people find it overpriced, but I was able to find it half-priced, and it is truly a fabulous curriculum.

Background info: I have used AO from the beginning of my hs journey. The highest level of AO I have used is Year 7, because after completion of that year my eldest went to college. I am curious about HIFU because I have always bemoaned AO's history organization but have never found a good alternative. I am homeschooling a 2 y/o, 5 y/o, and 13 y/o, so I probably wouldn't switch the 13 y/o, but I would switch the other two. Questions: What are the main differences between AO and HIFU? Does HIFU have it's own Years 7-12 curriculum, or do you just move into AO? Why would you choose HIFU over AO, or vice versa? Also, I do prefer a secular curriculum, because my family is Jewish. So, which curriculum is easier to secular-ize? TIA, Hadassah

I need to find a preschool curriculum for my new 2 y/o adopted kiddo... I am used to more unstructured preschool but I feel like a "legitimate" program would be way better for her. I am looking into FIAR but am unsure whether to use B4FIAR or just FIAR. Based on her age alone, I would definitely choose B4FIAR (even then, she seems a little young), but she is several age-levels ahead and we plan to start formal school at age 4 or 5. So, based on that information, would you still recommend B4FIAR? Or would you recommend FIAR? TIA, Hadassah

My kids used SSL with (moderate :lol:) success, and I never got the teacher's book. However I wold hazard a guess that Greek, and accordingly SSG, is way different than Latin.

The only copywork I remember ever doing in ps was spelling words, and even that was only in elementary school. I did do a fair amount of copywork in secondary school, but that was more of a punishment than anything else (i.e. it was only assigned to the "bad kids"... including me :lol:).

Mostly homeschool, for the same reasons as Ellie. My state calls it "providing home instruction", which I just find plain weird.

Thank you VERY much for all of your assistance. I am starting to really think that either B4FIAR or FIAR will be a great choice for my dd. I am going to xpost my query on the Accelerated board so I can figure out which program would better (B4 or just FIAR). Thanks again!!

I have heard all sorts of great things about FIAR, but I don't really know exactly what it is. I checked out the website but it seemed pretty vague. So, what EXACTLY is FIAR? And would you recommend it? I need to find a preschool curriculum for my new 2 y/o adopted kiddo... I am used to more unstructured preschool but I feel like a "legitimate" program would be way better for her. So if you have any other preschool recommendations, I love to hear them! TIA, Hadassah P.S. If you do recommend FIAR, then which program? My dd is several age-levels ahead and we are planning to begin formal school at age 4-ish. No criticism about this decision, please!

Just as a side note... if you are interested in another, similar article, check out: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2007/12/01/ST2007120102004.html The Baldwin program is the one that my eldest entered last year.

Normally it is up to the writer's preference as to whether or not to include an Oxford comma (the comma after the last item in a list before the "and"). However in this example I would choose (A) to make things clearer.

I have found the Six O'Clock Scramble to be a great tool. The service is $7 a month. Each week you receive an email of five easy, fast, delicious, healthy recipes, along with a shopping list tool and time-saving tips. If you want to swap out a recipe, you can tap into the massive recipe database for options aplenty! Sorry - I'm sounding like an infomercial. But SOS is a lifesaver. 'Nuff said. http://www.thescramble.com.

In addition to Latin, my kids studied Hebrew because we are Jewish and I think it will help them connect to their heritage, Spanish because they wanted to, and Mandarin because my dh and I figured that it would help them be better international businesspeople, if that's the profession they choose. They are also semifluent ib ASL because they were all speech delayed so we taught them ASL when they were little so they could communicate. In case you haven't yet noticed, my kids love foreign languages :001_smile:.

I've been looking long and hard for a good kids news website to supplement the Modern Controversies and Current Events co-op class I teach. My class is taught from a Jewish worldview, and my students are ages 11-13. Are there any secular or Jewish news websites that are targeted to preteens that you would recommend? Thanks, Hadassah